BukuWarung Collects Pre-series-A Funding to support MSMEs

The bookkeeping application startup for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), BukuWarung, raises funding for A series led by a venture company from the United States (US), Quona Capital, and previous investors.

Several rows of investors have injected funds such as East Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, AC Ventures, Michael Sampoerna and Tanglin Venture Partners. After this latest round, the total funding collected by BukuWarung reaches 8 digits.

BukuWarung Co-founder Abhinay Peddisetty said that currently, services that focus on microbusinesses in Indonesia are still very few. While this MSME has limited access to banks and other financial institutions, as well as recording financial transactions that are still manual.

“Services that focus on microbusinesses in Indonesia are very few. They also find it difficult to access quality financial services,” the co-founder of BukuWarung Abhinay Peddisetty said in a written statement on Wednesday (07/08/2020).

Abhinay also highlighted limited access to banks and other financial institutions that make micro businesses rely on pens, paper, and calculators to record cash and credit transactions in their stores.

The vision of this startup is to build digital infrastructure for MSMEs in Indonesia. It can be started with a simple application that can be used to digitally record and simplify payments digitally. As for Quona Capital, they have experience in encouraging financial inclusion.

This investor has experience in investing in companies serving micro businesses in various developing countries, one of which is India Mart. “They are the right partners to participate in developing Indonesia’s digital infrastructure,” Abhinay said.

This Startup has Served 50 Types of Businesses in Indonesia

At present BukuWarung has served 50 types of businesses and that includes stalls, grocery stores, groceries, pulse kiosks, grocery stores, and online merchants. Another co-founder, Chinmay Chauhan, said he and his colleagues had experience building products for micro-businesses in the Southeast Asian region.

“We design products that can be used smoothly by business owners who own low-end phones, little storage capacity, or limited data connectivity,” Chinmay said. As for micro-businesses, according to Co-founder and Managing Partner of East Ventures Willson Weather, it plays a role as the backbone of the hyperlocal economy in Indonesia

“As a market leader and armed with swift steps, the BukuWarung team is in the right position to encourage digital transformation in Indonesia’s micro-business sector,” said Willson.

Willson Cuaca Co-Founder and Managing Partner of East Ventures is optimistic that BukuWarung is in the right position to encourage digital transformation in the micro-business sector in the country. “Moreover, given the micro business is the backbone of the hyperlocal economy in Indonesia,” he said.

One of the Y Combinator Class of YC S20 Participants

BukuWarung is the only Indonesian startup selected as a participant in the YC Combinator Class of YC S20. On August 24, 2020, this startup will meet hundreds of investors and global media in Y Combinator Demo Day.

Xendit and Payfazz are two other companies from Indonesia that have participated in the acceleration program. Y Combinator has previously invested in startups from India engaged in areas similar to BukuWarung namely Khatabook and OkCredit. Khatabook and OkCredit have now served more than 10 million traders and have raised more than US$ 150 million in funding.

BukuWarung is an accounting application that helps micro business owners to manage cash and credit transactions. He said the debt bill notifications sent automatically made business owners who use the application can receive debt payments up to three times faster.

The application can be used to record various types of transactions including credit, expenses, and sales which are then presented in the form of financial statements. Until now, BukuWarung noted that more than 600 thousand traders in around 750 locations in Indonesia have used the application.